"I got money and I want to spend it," Brianna Schumann, 16, of Lebanon said as she made her way toward Forever 21 and Victoria's Secret.

"I'm with you," laughed her mother, enumerating her various Christmas gifts cards from Kohl's, J.C.Penney and Visa. "Blame it on the 16-year-old."

The two were among the many shoppers who took to Park City Center on Monday morning to capitalize on post-Christmas savings.

Some were making returns or exchanges, others snagging last-second gifts — but many, like the Schumanns, were simply getting while the getting was good.

"The best time I've ever had shopping is the first three to four days after Christmas," said Megan McGinty, 21, of Lancaster, who used to work at J.C.Penney and remembers post-holiday discounts of up to 80 percent.

"They're just giving stuff away."

Several department stores opened hours earlier than the rest of the mall — Kohl's being earliest at 5 a.m. — to serve shoppers with a zeal reminiscent of Black Friday.

Veterans of that war zone marshaled in kind, but without the pre-Christmas edge their aims seemed almost recreational.

For Rose Weitzel, 44, and her extended family, which assembles in Lancaster each Christmas from as far away as Cary, N.C., the shopping has become tradition.

Her seven-woman crew spanned three generations.

"We do it for the camaraderie," Weitzel said. "We buy a little here and a little there, but it's mostly about being together."

Best friends Michele Chronister, 42, and Regina Wallace, 43, both of York, shared a similar perspective.

"We go to Starbucks and then we go shopping. We go to the outlets, we come here, we go to the Macaroni Grill, and we're done by lunch time," Chronister said.

The annual activity is a way to spend time together, Wallace explained, and the deals provide a good excuse.

"Williams-Sonoma was amazing," she said with a grin.

A more focused, task-oriented group navigated the mall for specific items.

"I wanted the Beats," James Brown, 15, of Octorara said, referring to a popular brand of headphones produced by rapper Dr. Dre.

Kaitlin Ericson, 36, of Elizabethtown, marched with purpose from Crazy 8 and Gymboree, where she said she bought jackets for her young children a winter in advance.

She shops almost every Dec. 26, she said, and "it's all about the deals."

One woman — Diane Ohara, 40, from Lancaster — was laden with a complete second round of gifts for an upcoming gathering with her relatives in Philadelphia.

She also said she hits the sales every year.

Not everyone in the mall, however, was moving at the same speed.

Tables in the center offered safe haven for those anchoring their loved ones, and many took advantage of the calm.

"We're not shopping," said Jarol Harsh, 40, of Allentown, who sat sipping coffee with his mother, Vicky Harsh, 58, of Lancaster.

Somewhere in the mall his wife was chasing sneakers, brandishing a gift card to 5.7.9.

jpianka@lnpnews.com